As one of the leading SEO agencies Manchester one of the services we offer to our clients is management of their paid media campaigns. In order to ensure our campaigns are working effectively, we track a number of metrics, one of which is click through rate, otherwise known as CTR. In this post we will take a closer look at CTR, why it is important and some ways you can go about improving it.
What is CTR?
There are many different definitions of CTR out there, but here at SEO MCR SEO consultants manchester we define it as: ‘the number of clicks received divided by the number of impressions received.’
CTR helps you to discover how relevant and helpful your Google ads are, and how successful your chosen targeted keywords are as well.
How can improving your CTR help?
The higher your CTR the better your ad will rank meaning:
- Your ads have more visibility and will therefore achieve a larger proportion of impressions than they are eligible to receive
- Increased site visits due to an increase in visibility
- Lower cost per clicks (CPC) due to the better positioning of the ads
- Potentially a higher conversion rate (CR) due to higher CTR and the fact that potential customers have more information about your product/service and so are more qualified to make a decision after clicking on ad
How can you optimise your PPC ads to improve your CTR?
- Use Countdown Timers. The countdown function in Google Ads automatically updates your ad to easily let customers know how much time they have remaining for special events or sales. This drives a sense of urgency for the customer, and encourages them to act now. You can do a manual countdown yourself by updating your ad on a daily basis, but it is far easier to use the inbuilt countdown customiser to create one which will automatically update on a daily basis and therefore save you time.
- Use Ad Extensions. You may not realise this but Google actually prefers it when you get a higher CTR as the more people that click your ad, the more Google gets paid. Because it is in their best interests that your CTR is high, they will do what they can to help you achieve that. One way they allow you to do that is by advising you to use ad extensions. There are various types of ad extensions available such as review extensions which allow you to showcase third party reviews and rankings in your ads.
- Use Symbols. Symbols can really help your ad to stand out from the rest of the ads on the page – as long as you use them correctly. If an ad with a symbol in is placed next to a series of similar ads selling the same service or products then the symbol can really make your ad stand out more. It is worth giving it a try and inserting a symbol into your ad copy to see if has an impact on your CTR or not – they should do as they will help your ad to get noticed.
- Use Main Keyword in URL of Ad. This tip is related to building trust with the audience of people your ad is targeted at. If you put the main keyword you want to target into the URL this will give your readers an extra clue that your ad is the one that is most relevant to their search. When they see your URL they will know that your ad is providing them with exactly what they are looking for. This may sound incredibly simple, but you would be amazed at how many companies do not use their targeted keyword in their URL. Tweak your ads today and see what difference it can make.
- Use a Call to Action. Call to actions (CTA) are classic marketing tricks that can make a huge difference to all sorts of things, from blogs to paid ads. Research even shows that the human mind expects a CTA from a paid ad – people want your ad to make them click through as it gives them satisfaction to do so. People are inherently curious, and so they want to find things out. Adding a CTA such as ‘find out more’, ‘get yours today’, ‘purchase here’, or ‘sign up’ can really improve your CTR and be the difference between people clicking through or ignoring your ad.
- Know Your Audience. It is not as simple as boosting the amount of traffic you get though, you also want to make sure that the traffic you do get is the right kind of traffic. This is where knowing your audience comes into play for a variety of reasons. Firstly, if you know who your audience are, then you can discover what blogs they like to read, what they search for in Google, and the sites they visit. You can also get to know how they describe the services they offer and you can use this information to fuel how you word the copy on your site to match. Knowing how they compare and choose products on your site will help you to structure your site and prioritise content. There are various ways you can find out who your customers are – by talking to them or by pulling together a customer profile using educated guesses.
Test Out These Tips
All of the tips we have mentioned above are simple to implement but the most important thing to remember to do if you try any of these is to test them to make sure your audience is responding to your changes in a positive way. The way to do this is to ensure you are attracting the traffic that is right for you by measuring conversions rather than just an increase in the amount of clicks. If you really want to make sure you are getting the best out of your PPC campaign, then you should get in touch with the fantastic Manchester SEO team here at SEO MCR to find out more.